Day 2 at Nike

This is a discussion on Day 2 at Nike within the Off Topic & Humor Discussion forums, part of the The Back Porch category; I got a short term contract writing some software for Nike. Since their World Headquarters is literally ½ mile from my house, and I haven’t ...

Day 2 at Nike

I got a short term contract writing some software for Nike. Since their World Headquarters is literally ½ mile from my house, and I haven’t worked in 2 months, I took it. They have a beautiful campus as the following picture attests to.

On the morning of the second day, my manager says he wants to speak with me. I am thinking, how much trouble could I have caused in one day. Done it before, so I just went into his office with an open mind.

We exchanged some niceties and debriefed a bit. Then he says to me, “what is wrong with your shoes?” I am thinking that they are rather dusty from the two consecutive weekends I just spent at the Firearms Academy of Seattle learning how to shoot moving targets in the “A” zone while I am moving, and a few other drills. But I just say, “huh?”

“What brand are they?” he continues.

“Uh, Reebok.”

“Exactly my point.” How did he know? Anyways, he continues with how passionate Nike employees are about wearing Nike stuff. He then relates a story about a friend who came to visit him on campus wearing non-Nike shoes. He said that he entered the elevator on the top floor and on the next floor down, three other people got in. The friend later explained that he barely got out of the elevator alive. The manager then smiled a sly little smile. I smiled back. I then asked what I should do. He gave me a pass to the Nike employee store and “requested” that I buy a new pair of shoes.

EMP, good find. The trend these days in IT (operations and applications) is to test drive people for a while before they hire them, keep it up. We will no longer be able to write our own check like pre-Y2K, those were the days.

Reminds me of something I noticed when my kid was attending GA Tech. You can NOT buy a Pepsi anywhere on campus, not at the co-op, vending machines, or anywhere else. The kid had to walk a couple blocks off-campus to buy it.

Of course, Coke's WHQ is like 2 blocks from campus, and they are a big sponsor for the football stadium.

EMP, good find. The trend these days in IT (operations and applications) is to test drive people for a while before they hire them, keep it up. We will no longer be able to write our own check like pre-Y2K, those were the days.

Reminds me of something I noticed when my kid was attending GA Tech. You can NOT buy a Pepsi anywhere on campus, not at the co-op, vending machines, or anywhere else. The kid had to walk a couple blocks off-campus to buy it.

Of course, Coke's WHQ is like 2 blocks from campus, and they are a big sponsor for the football stadium.

"Sure, As long as the machines are workin' and you can call 911. But you take those things away, you throw people in the dark, and you scare the crap out of them; no more rules...You'll see how primitive they can get."

He then relates a story about a friend who came to visit him on campus wearing non-Nike shoes. He said that he entered the elevator on the top floor and on the next floor down, three other people got in. The friend later explained that he barely got out of the elevator alive.

I think those folks would be in for a nasty surprise if they tried that on you.

Reminds me of something I noticed when my kid was attending GA Tech. You can NOT buy a Pepsi anywhere on campus, not at the co-op, vending machines, or anywhere else. The kid had to walk a couple blocks off-campus to buy it.

Of course, Coke's WHQ is like 2 blocks from campus, and they are a big sponsor for the football stadium.

Go figure.

Buddy of mine went to Emory in Atlanta. They had a construction site right across from his dorm, and someone had the audacity to put a Pepsi vending machine there. It lasted about a day before it was replaced by a Coke product machine.

I was doing some work at a Chrysler plant. When I arrived they asked me what car I was driving and where I parked it. Seems the plant manager had a habit of towing non-Chrysler cars to the far reaches of lot. I was driving a Ford that week. They gave me a pass for the week.

I was doing a wiring job (voice/data) for a new Coca Cola office here in town. Offices were not even open yet. One of the corporate big wigs came through while I was on break, having a Dr Pepper. I was informed I had to get it out of to lthe building and told if I were caught again I would be forced to leave the jobsite, and not allowed back. Was told by a member of their IT department they were not suppose to use any product that Pepsi was the parent company of, even when off work. They even try to restrict the resturants they frequent, if they sale Pepsi products.
Wouldn't do for me to work for them, I refuse to give up my Dr Pepper and RC Cola!!